THE UNCLE of a 22-year-old woman found tied to a tree in Catarroja (Valencia province) has been arrested over 300 kilometres north in Mollet del Vallès (Barcelona).
Police were already investigating the suspect after the victim was discovered bound to a trunk with ropes, since she had previously reported him for violent behaviour towards her.
The young Moroccan woman was found at around 20.00 on Sunday, and had fallen asleep tied up as a cloth she had been gagged with had been impregnated with a type of narcotic or tranquilliser.
Passers-by called the police after they spotted her predicament in a public park in the town, which is a few kilometres from Valencia airport.
She was taken to Valencia's La Fe hospital for a check-up, but is not known to have suffered any long-lasting ill effects.
According to police, the woman had been tied to a tree by a relative to stop her seeing her Spanish boyfriend, since the family disapproved of her going out with a man of a different race.
